Astounding American (mezzo-)soprano Shirley Verrett has died at the age of 79. In my mind, her voice will always be the way Verdi's Lady Macbeth is supposed to sound. Addio, bell'angelo. [Parterre Box]

We do not comment on politics here at Ionarts. We let other outlets do that: "American Public Gets Exactly What It Deserves For 112th Straight Election." [The Onion]

The elusive and subversive graffiti artist known as Banksy is a favorite among my art history students, for obvious reasons. [BBC News]

Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, a new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery here in Washington, is the talk of the critics. [Hide/Seek]

The Louvre has given director Patrice Chéreau a room to assemble his own exhibit, which he has dedicated to the theme of faces and bodies. The selection includes the unusual pairing of Courbet's L’Origine du monde and Salomon De Bray's Young Woman Combing Her Hair (1630), as well as Philippe de Champaigne's Christ lying on a shroud (c. 1654) and Picasso's Embrace (1903). [Le Monde]

"Poor Leonard Bernstein. He wanted so much to be another Gustav Mahler. He ended up being another Leonard Bernstein. Indecently talented and indecently undisciplined, Bernstein – who died 20 years ago – could do anything. Well, almost anything." Martin Bernheimer vivisects A Quiet Place. [Financial Times]